Anglia105E

Well spotted, Gary..... that is exactly where I shall place my telephone kiosk, which I assembled and painted from a white metal kit. David

Thanks for your vote of confidence, Gary........... here you can see the single petrol pump on the forecourt of the Hooper factory building, which can be seen more clearly on the Standard - Triumph photograph. There should be plenty of space around the factory to position all of my Rolls-Royce and Bentley car models. David

Having drawn up a plan that shows how a layout of two dioramas would work, this is how I see the display coming together on the table. Each of the two dioramas in 1:43 scale occupies a surface area of 2 feet 6 inches x 2 feet 6 inches, and the table area that I am allocated for the annual Rolls-Royce event is comprised of two tables, each one being 5 feet x 2 feet. The Victorian terraced house diorama is nearing completion and the next diorama will shortly be under construction. This one will be the Hooper & Co factory, as it was in 1958 and located at the address Western Avenue, Park Royal, Acton which is West London. As you look at the display, the terraced house diorama is on the right and the factory diorama will be on the left, so that Western Avenue runs along in the foreground, effectively connecting the two dioramas into one. The shorter street that leads away from Western Avenue is Dukes Road, and the terraced houses are on the corner of the two roads. There will be a factory frontage that is 19.75 inches wide and art deco in style, while behind this will be several rows of ridged roof factory buildings. One photo that follows shows the building early in 1959, when Standard - Triumph became the new owners of the Hooper building and another photo shows an original plan drawing from 1959. David

Thanks Gary..... you are quite right, many newer Corgi diecasts are 1:36 scale, while most older ones are 1:43 scale and the commercial vehicles tend to be 1:50 scale, including Vanguards. This is why I usually go for Oxford Diecast, Neo, IXO, Minichamps and Lansdowne...... all in 1:43 David

Like you, Gary..... I did not realise that Corgi ever made 1:24 scale diecast model cars, and I find that a lot of Corgi and Dinky models are not actually 1:43 scale, but some weird size ( especially the lorries / trucks ).... probably 1:50 David

Following the arrival of a 1959 Ford Consul MK II yesterday, I photographed the car in a diorama setting. This is a 1:43 scale diecast model by IXO and is nicely finished in light blue with a white roof. Alongside the Ford Consul is the 1963 Ford Consul Cortina MK I, which appears to be light blue in certain lighting conditions, but is probably light grey actually. I find myself seeing a strong similarity between the '59 Ford Consul and the 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria that you have in the United States. David

Here are the blue ones, Randy..... David

You are doing a fine job on this build, Randy..... and like you, I really enjoyed building this 1950 Talbot Lago T26 Record Cabriolet by Heller. They are usually painted in blue, but I chose to paint mine in cream with brown upholstery. This builds up into a very nice scale model motor car. Liking your choice of Root beer metallic extreme lacquer. David

I quite often have a look round for Austin Healey 3000 kits or diecast, in both 1:43 and 1:24 scale, but usually it is the Austin Healey 100-6 that comes up in larger numbers. The K&R Replicas version of the 3000 is nice, and as you say, it is a bit pricey at £94.00 GBP....... The Revell kit is the 1:25 scale Austin Healey 100-6, and although it looks to be very good, it is not the 3000 that I would like to find. David

This photo below illustrates what I mean about the close similarity between the American car design and the British equivalent around the mid-fifties..... this 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria and the 1959 Ford Consul MK II are so much alike, to my eye anyway..... David

Thanks, Randy..... and I shall post a few more photos when I take delivery of this model car. David

Arriving tomorrow is this 1959 Ford Consul MK II diecast by IXO in 1:43 scale, with light blue paintwork and white roof. I can see lots of American influence in British car designs of this period, and particularly from the Ford motor company. David

Nothing that you do surprises me now, Mark....... All these intricate and hand crafted parts that go to make up a working component of this Lola racing car are fascinating to behold. This is just engineering in miniature, and I should learn from this build. I continue to follow your progress with jaw dropped and eyes wide open.... David

I have added four metal dustbins with lids ( trash or garbage can ) and these are awaiting collection outside in the alleyway, at the rear of the terraced houses. David

Thanks, Gary...... I thought I would attempt to to create the fog effect indoors, using the atmosphere aerosol for the 1:43 scale diorama, rather than go outdoors at 5.00 am in the morning to use real fog :-) As long as the camera is aimed directly at the light source, the fog technique does seem to work quire well. David

The length of guttering on the front of the houses is in place, and also the two drainpipes are done, These were very tricky, and each one has four brackets holding the pipe to the wall. One pipe is dark red and the other one is dark green, to match the paintwork for each house. Three lengths of telegraph wire are in place, and a second street lamp has been fitted. Attached photos are from two photo shoots from well into the early hours of Tuesday morning. This time I was able to get some better results with the fog in a can, and the trick is to set up the camera in self timer mode, which gives me 10 seconds to get ready with the canned fog and it hangs around long enough to create the effect. Once again I have used the funeral cortege of three cars, with the gentleman in the top hat walking in front of the hearse. Apologies for so many photos, but most are in black & white, so smaller file sizes. David

Bought this one as the latest addition to my Ford collection in 1:43 scale...... it is a 1959 Ford Consul MK II by IXO, in light blue with a white roof. David

That is the one, Geoff...... I do hope that the Motor Museum in Miniature release the full kit of the Lotus Cortina MK I in 1:24 scale. The Morris Minor 1000 looks really good, and even though the price of £80.00 GBP plus P&P seems high, the kit will be excellent value for money. The resin body Cortina that is currently available does need a lot of donor parts, so a full kit would be great. David

Made good progress with the telegraph wires today..... so there are now two telegraph poles mounted on the diorama baseboard, with one length of telegraph wire joining the two poles. One of the poles will supply the two terraced houses, and there will be more wires added between the two poles. Earlier today I tried to place an order for a product called EZ Line, which is supplied by a company in the United States called Berkshire Junction, but I saw from their website that they are going into retirement and closing the business. Suppliers here in the UK are all out of stock of EZ Line in heavy size, black. Such a shame because this product appears to be perfect for the telegraph wires. Anyway, all was not lost because I managed to source some Shirring Elastic which is intended for sewing machines from a hardware store locally, and very cheaply too. David

Randy..... the Lotus Cortina MK I was available as a 1:32 scale Airfix kit in styrene, and you can still get 1:24 scale Lotus Cortina MK I as a resin body shell only.... which then requires a donor kit to complete. ( the Lotus version is a 2-door body shell ). David

Picked up this nice 1:43 scale Minichamps 1963 Ford Cortina, 2-door version today....... very accurate model and not expensive. David

Gary..... I know what you mean about the distractions in the room, but these previous photos were more about showing the bus shelter and walls, rather than the diorama setting as a whole. Later, when I shoot the more advanced photos I shall set up background white boards, which will hide any unwanted background objects that are in the room. Further photography will be outdoors, which will make use of a real background in natural daylight, and of course forced perspective also. Few more photos here, taken with early morning sunlight, so not the 100 watt daylight bulb as in the previous set of photos. The gentleman in the top hat standing at the bus shelter looks more like a bouncer standing at the door of a night club ! David

The two lengths of red brick wall have been assembled and these are now in place on the diorama baseboard, creating an alleyway as I intended. Also. I have just assembled a Victorian red brick Bus Shelter kit during the past two days. This has turned out nicely, and from the following series of photos you can see how the bus shelter and the walls fit into the diorama setting. The tree that was previously used in my 1:24 scale diorama seems to be more suitable for this 1:43 scale diorama, and it is useful for providing dappled rays of light that fall on the red brick buildings. David

Beautiful Duesenberg, Pico...... and you have done an excellent job on those wheels. David

Welcome to MCM forums, Mike..... and your story is so close to my experience of scale model kit building that I can relate to every word. My daughter is now 24 years of age, and I was first drawn to collecting models around the age of 10 years myself.... started out with tanks and wargaming stuff, moved on to cars, and learned a lot from my Dad....... so this is all about arriving at where we are now, as I approach 66 years of age...... David